Ville conquise

CITY FOR CONQUEST (Warner Brothers, 1940), directed by Anatole Litvak, starring James Cagney and Ann Sheridan, is another one of many movies produced during the 1930s and 40s to represent New York City life with a realistic approach, and one of the best of its kind. Not as famous as Cagney and Sheridan's previous effort, ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES (1938), which also featured the same street setting and tenement apartment backdrops, CITY FOR CONQUEST, which begins in 1934 in a city of seven million people, does have its strong points (the forceful acting, particularly by Cagney, with Sheridan coming a close second) and bad points (occasional heavy handiness in melodramatics), but it still makes a fine story highlighted by a well staged, but brutal prizefight sequence, and a memorable Max Steiner score.

Focusing on the ambitions of three people from the Lower East Side, Cagney stars as the self-sacrificing Danny Kenny, a truck driver who becomes a prizefighter, only to become nearly blinded in a stadium ring when double-dealing gangsters place resin powder in the gloves of his opponent; Sheridan as Peggy Nash, an over anxious girl who wants to become a professional ballroom dancer, only to become partnered with the wrong kind of guy named Murray Burns (played by the menacing Anthony Quinn); and Arthur Kennedy (in his movie debut), featured as Cagney's younger brother, Eddie, working as a piano teacher who strives on becoming a symphony composer. After the ups and downs of the three central characters are presented, the outcome results in a powerful conclusion.

The supporting cast includes Donald Crisp as Scotty, Danny's fighting manager; Frank McHugh as Mutt; George Tobias as Pinky; Jerome Cowan as Dutch; and Blanche Yurka seen briefly as Sheridan's tenement mother, Mrs. Nash. Then there is future movie director, Elia Kazan, making his movie debut as Googi. His performance is small but excellent. As mentioned before, Arthur Kennedy, another good but underrated actor, also makes his debut. Interestingly Kennedy closely resembles Cagney well enough to actually be his brother, but his Eddie character comes close to being a George Gershwin-type, especially when conducting his symphony at Carnegie Hall in the latter part of the story. Another performer who should not go unnoticed is Lee Patrick, usually cast in sophisticated character roles, and best remembered as Effie, Sam Spade's secretary in the 1941 version to THE MALTESE FALCON, playing Gladys, a floozy but good-natured chorus girl who offers the down-and-out Sheridan accommodations at her place.

One cannot help noticing character actor and playwright Frank Craven as "Old Timer" being featured THIRD in the opening and closing cast credits. He appears in only ONE brief scene in the opening segment where he happens to be walking down Delancey Street. He notices a young teen stealing two pieces of bread, catches the boy only to say, "If you must steal bread in New York (slight pause), don't get caught!" Afterwards he gives the boy one piece and takes one for himself. Old Timer is never seen or heard from again. Craven's character name of "Old Timer" isn't even heard or called out during those few minutes. What does Craven's cameo, which ranks third in the cast, have to do with the plot? After doing some research, I have come to learn that the print in circulation, both on video cassette and television presentations, is from a 1948 theatrical reissue, which excised all but one of Craven's scenes. Anyone who has ever seen his performance in OUR TOWN (United Artists, 1940), where he plays a philosopher appearing throughout the story delivering messages to his audience, will be interested to know that Craven has done the same in the original version of CITY FOR CONQUEST, which could have been a revamped production re-titled OUR CITY. In CITY FOR CONQUEST, Craven occasionally intrudes or narrates in numerous scenes to tell the camera eye about the central characters. It would be interesting to see the outlook of this restored version someday. (That someday finally took place on the night of November 12, 2007, on TCM, getting to see Frank Craven address the story to the viewers, to see the main characters of Danny, Peggy and Googi as children, Ward Bond as a cop, and other scenes not before seen since its original theatrical release).

Aside from its melodramatic storyline, CITY FOR CONQUEST features a handful of instrumental melodies, many from previous 1930s musicals, including "Lullaby of Broadway," "The Continental," "Corn Pickin'" "Garden of the Moon," "I'm Just Wild About Harry," "The Shadow Waltz," "The Words Are in My Heart," "42nd Street," "Where Were You When the Moon Came Out?" "Powder My Back for Me" and the six minute finale, "Symphony of a Great City." Many of these tunes are part of the ballroom dancing as performed by Sheridan and Quinn.

CITY FOR CONQUEST is an interesting look on New York lifestyle of long ago, which makes this worth viewing whenever aired on Turner Classic Movies. (***1/2)

I had the very great pleasure this Thanksgiving week of seeing one of my sentimental favorites from the good old Late Show days (nights), City for Conquest. I had not seen it in more years than I should like to remember, but, as I watched, it all came back to me. James Cagney, who has always been a great favorite of mine, plays Danny Kenney (they always seemed to give James Cagney's characters names like "Danny" or "Tommy"), who takes up boxing to finance his younger brother's music career. Sizzling Ann Sheridan is Danny's girlfriend, who has ambitions of her own in the wider world. And indeed Ann Sheridan was a wonderful dancer, and her numbers with Anthony Quinn are erotic in only the way a great dance team can be. Anthony Quinn (man, he was HOT! He looked a lot like Rudolph Valentino) plays a slime ball who fills Peggy's ears with what she wants to hear. They can be a sensational dance team as "Maurice and Margalo" and conquer the world. Of course, she winds up breaking Danny's heart and Danny winds up blind. Soap opera stuff, to be sure, but it WORKS! I believe I once read that Warner Brothers hired a professional boxer to coach James Cagney in this role. Not that he needed much coaching, considering his Hell's Kitchen background. The coach was impressed with Cagney and asked him where he got those moves. "I'm a hoofer," Cagney replied. In any case, if you can avoid bawling your eyes out at the end of City for Conquest," you are stronger than I am! A must-see!

With a first-rate cast, good boxing sequences, an excellent music score by Max Steiner, a smattering of romance and action sequences, this film has got to be one of James Cagney's best films. Besides, you get a chance to see Arthur Kennedy and Elia Kazan in their first film, and both are excellent. If Kazan weren't such a great director, he easily could have made a career as an actor. Be sure to notice the surprising scene where Anthony Quinn seems to force himself on Ann Sheridan, who pleads for him to stop as the scene fades. Surprising, because even an implied rape was against the strict code in 1940. I wonder how that scene got past the Hays Office.

City for Conquest (1940)

Great credentials here, from director Anatole Litvak to photographers (two of them) James Wong Howe and Sol Polito. That's enough for any movie. And music by Max Steiner, and throw in James Cagney, and you get a sense of the rich tapestry of New York that gets better and better as it goes, with even a small (sensational) part by Elia Kazan and Arthur Kennedy's first role.

Now it's a little stretch to see Cagney as a fighter--he's fit about as much as I am, and has no boxer's physique. But the movie is a hair lightweight in a heartwarming way (this is no Raging Bull, nor even James Garfield, later in the 1940s). But it creates a great milieux, just as the war is going in Europe and the Depression is ending in New York. The streets are abuzz, and love is in the air. There are a lot of 1930s era effects that are quaint--the fast montages of the city, or of dancers--and the plot itself, of a couple destined for each other but buffeted by life's usual distractions, is sweet.

And it all unfolds with such well-oiled perfection, the same era as Kane and Casablanca, and the same studio system and film stock. Great stuff, well made, and overcoming whatever conventional sentiments that thread through it all. It's even enjoyable without the plot, the boatride at night (think Weegee), the street scenes with kids everywhere (think Helen Levitt). It's a surprisingly honest, vivid movie.

I saw this movie a long time ago (about 1968) and was quite impressed by the story, acting, and filming. Cagney plays a typical role for him--the decent little guy who's out to do big things but gets beaten down by the bad guys. As in "Angels with Dirty Faces" and "Torrid Zone," he teams up well with Ann Sheridan. Ann worked often and well with the movie tough guys of the late 30's and early 40's (e.g. John Garfield, George Raft, et al) but seems to have become rather forgotten over the years. All I remember of the Arthur Kennedy role is him sitting at a piano in a New York apartment composing a symphony, which he ultimately succeeds in doing due to the sacrifices of his on-screen brother played by Cagney. As I recall, the symphony is titled "City for Conquest."

The ending of the film is exceptionally moving. But for me the best and most memorable sequences were those few brief scenes involving Elia Kazan as Googi Zucco. With his cocky bearing and slick black hair, Kazan plays as good a mob-like thug as anyone I've ever seen.